Judge temporarily blocks Trump’s California water plan

Posted: May 12, 2020 / 10:37 AM PDT / Updated: May 12, 2020 / 10:37 AM PDT

FILE – In this Feb. 23, 2016 file photo, people try to catch fish along the Sacramento River in the San Joaquin-Sacramento River Delta, near Courtland, Calif. California officials sued the Trump administration on Thursday, Feb. 20, 2020, to block new rules governing the Sacramento/San Joaquin River Delta. Attorney General Xavier Becerra called the new rules “scientifically challenged” and said they would push some species to extinction. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, File)

FRESNO, Calif. (AP) — A court has temporarily blocked the Trump administration’s efforts to pump more water to the agricultural Central Valley, which critics say would threaten endangered species and salmon runs.

A federal judge in Fresno issued a preliminary injunction Monday in two lawsuits brought against the administration by California and environmental groups.

The order bars the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation from expanding the amount of water it pumps from the San Joaquin Delta through the federal Central Valley Project.

The Valley is the heartland for the state’s $50 billion agricultural industry. The injunction lasts until May 31.

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